SAN FRANCISCO – With a sparse crowd of 27,478 braving the blistering 89-degree temperatures and scorching sunbeams at Oracle Park on Wednesday afternoon, the Giants took to the searing surface with an opportunity to do something the team had failed to accomplish this season: sweep an opponent.

For much of the afternoon, the same old Giants showed up. Their traits were familiar: three errors and a starting pitcher who could not get out of the fifth inning (or a Cardinal baserunner’s way).

But then the woebegone Giants, missing their biggest bats, flipped the script in a stunning 7-6 victory.

“I was fired up,” Matthew ‘Tugboat’ Wilkinson said after earning his first major league victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

It didn’t seem possible when San Francisco entered the bottom of the eighth inning with fading hopes while trailing 6-1.

Bryce Eldridge stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded, worked the count to 2-2, and singled in two runners to cut the deficit to 6-3. Jonah Cox beat out a throw to first during the next at-bat to make it 6-4, and then Jung Hoo Lee hammered a ball off the right-field wall to tie it up at 6-all.

Shay Whitcomb, Lee’s teammate on the Korean national team, completed the rally by blasting a double to center and giving the Giants a one-run advantage over St. Louis and reliever George Soriano.

After hitting the walk-off single in the 10th inning of Monday’s victory, Whitcomb relished being the hero again.

“I take more pride in the one today,” he said, before adding, “The walk off was just a special moment (too), because, you know, first walk off in the big leagues.”

Then Trent Harris, the Giants’ 27-year-old rookie reliever, got his first career save, becoming the 12th pitcher to do that for the Giants this season.

Not counting the series against the Atlanta Braves that was split between June and August due to weather, the Giants swept their first opponent in their 45th uninterrupted series of the season.

The day began with a promising start. Eldridge poked a single to right in the first inning, which is all the fleet-footed Drew Gilbert needed to score from second. Eldridge has now reached safely in 18 consecutive games.

Both teams were missing big bats. The Giants, aside from longtime IL residents Willy Adames and Matt Chapman, also saw Rafael Devers sitting out for rest purposes.

Though manager Tony Vitello had a chance to pinch-hit Devers for Whitcomb in the eighth inning, he said that was never a consideration.

“I was looking to (infield coach Ron) Washington to my right when Shay came up, and I wanted to say ‘That kid deserves a hit,’” Vitello remembered. “He was playing his (expletive) off today, an he’s been doing that a lot.”

Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ starting lineup was without All-Star outfielder Jordan Walker and rookie of the year candidate JJ Wetherholt. A few minutes before first pitch, shortstop Masyn Winn was pulled from the lineup, too.

After enjoying that early lead, Tidwell gave up one run in the top of the second when Nolan Gorman drove in Joshua Baez. The young pitcher then botched what should have been a routine rundown in the third inning by colliding with Ivan Herrera.

Two batters later, Tidwell’s high 95 mile per hour fastball landed over the right-field wall, courtesy of rookie catcher Leo Bernal, as the visitors led 4-1.

Tidwell had made it through at least five innings in each of his previous three starts, but manager Tony Vitello yanked him in the fifth after watching the 25-year-old load the bases with no outs.

The former Tennessee Vol exited after throwing 78 pitches, surrendering two walks, hitting two batters, giving up five earned runs and still in search of his first victory of the season.

“I’m definitely frustrated, because I know better than that … I probably could have just tagged him myself,” Tidwell said.

Philip Abner made his Giants debut, and in two innings allowed one earned run to make it 6-1. Wilkinson then gave them a quick 1-2-3 inning in the seventh and then got unscathed through the eighth inning while eventually receiving the victory.

Pinch hitter Brett Harris also received two plate appearances after subbing in for Gilbert, becoming the 66th player to see action for the Giants this season, tying a franchise record.

Right-hander Anthony Molina (3-0, 1.88 ERA) is expected to start on Friday against the Padres, while former Giant Robbie Ray (11-8, 3.41 ERA) will take the ball for San Diego.

Giants Notebook

— Devers’ games streak ended at 309 on Wednesday afternoon. Vitello said that he wanted to buy Devers an extra day of rest with the upcoming off day, making sure to emphasize there was no major injury. He said, “I think he’s fought through baserunning stuff, and we’ve talked about that before … but you get into Bill Belichick mode a little bit where it doesn’t make sense to point to stuff that’s not IL-related.”

— Marcelo Mayer (right foot) has yet to make his Giants debut since being traded from the Boston Red Sox, but the team remains optimistic about Mayer being able to return to the field before the end of the season: “He’s now doing about as much activity as you would do if you were just coming off the bench, so hopefully that means he’s closer to some game action … we know what he wants: he wants to wear a Giants uniform before the year’s out.”

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